EPA Grant Supports Education Programs to Reduce Indoor Air Pollution

The EPA has awarded $120,000 to the Baltimore City Health Department in order to support air quality projects, which includes an education program for nursing students from the University of Maryland to learn about environmental asthma management.

Dec 20, 2012

The Baltimore City Health Department has been awarded $120,000 grant by the EPA in support of air quality projects. The grant will also help provide an educational program to more than 450 nursing students from the University of Maryland, which will help the students learn how to properly manage environmental asthma.

“Reducing the environmental health risks of indoor air contaminants, such as asthma triggers, can benefit people’s health,” said EPA Regional Administrator Shawn M. Garvin. “This funding supports efforts to improve indoor air quality, which will better protect the health of children and families in the Baltimore area.”

The funding also supports a training workshop for about 32 medical professionals on how to work with families in neighborhoods where there is a high risk for indoor air pollution issues. Indoor air pollutants in homes, buildings, and schools can negatively impact the health of occupants.

Some air pollutants can cause health problems such as eye irritation, burning in the nose and throat, headaches or fatigue. Others can worsen allergies, respiratory illnesses (such as asthma) or even cause cancer (from radon gas). Exposure to unhealthy indoor air pollutants can be reduced through better design, construction, operational and maintenance practices, personal choices, and through the mitigation of indoor air quality problems.